


Rain, Rain, I'm Here to Stay

by Sans_Virtuosity



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Camping, Daily Writing, F/M, Fluff, Pre-romance relationship, Unfortunate tent collapse, cuddling for warmth, unedited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 15:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4840052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sans_Virtuosity/pseuds/Sans_Virtuosity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawke's tent collapses under a heavy rain, and she flees to the closest companion's tent for safety. <br/>The elf she was expecting to see was not the one she got, but he welcomed her in nonetheless.</p>
<p>Just some short fluff that came from one of my daily writing sessions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain, Rain, I'm Here to Stay

* * *

 

 

Hawke awoke with a jolt to a cold punch to the face. Water soaked through her clothes, and more still poured into her tent. Her vision was blurry from sleep, so she couldn't quite see what happened, but she was sure with her luck, the tent she’d been sleeping in had tore, and what little protection she had from the elements was completely useless to her now.

She scrambled out of the tent in a panic, grabbing her books along the way, and rushed into the closest neighbor tent. She hadn't checked on the sleeping arrangements this night, having been the first to fall asleep, but she was sure it would be Merrill who pitched her tent next to hers. The two often shared a tent when travelling, but recently the group acquired a donation on behalf of a woodsman they saved from a stray drake, and they'd decided to make use of it. If Hawke were being honest, she missed sleeping next to another body at night, but she did truly enjoy the privacy and extra leg room. She'd have to go back to sharing sleeping quarters, if that attack from the heavens was any indication.

Hawke placed her books down next to the occupied bedroll in the center of the tent, and stepped over and around them to find someplace of her own to settle down again for the night. Maker, but her clothes were soaking.

Hawke quickly pulled her sleeping tunic over her head without a second thought, and heard a distinctly masculine gasp come from the bedroll beneath her. Not Merrill, then. The figure shot up, and stumbled for a second on shaky legs before they gathered their bearings. Hawke quickly pressed the tunic to her chest, in a half-hearted attempt at modesty. There was a brief flash of light, and then complete darkness.

"Hawke?" the sleepy voice croaked out. Fenris. The light must have been his markings. "What are you- why is-"

"Ah, my tent collapsed or something. I ran into the closest _intact_ tent before I really thought about it. I assumed it would be Merrill." Hawke yawned. The situation explained, Hawke tossed the tunic aside, and despite the apparent darkness, Fenris cast his gaze anywhere but the near-naked woman in his tent. "Do you mind if I stay here until the rain lets up?"

Fenris stepped away from the bedroll and stretched his arms in front of him until he got a satisfying crack out of both of them, then gestured towards it. "Be my guest."

Hawke snorted. "Yeah right. I'm not taking your bed, Fenris. Go back to sleep. I'll just lay wherever."

He turned to her to argue, remembered her state of undress, and immediately turned away again.

Hawke sighed. "If it were Merrill, we would just share the damn thing and both get a decent night's rest." Hawke smirked in his general direction. "I mean, you know, if you'd like to-"

Fenris groaned and ran his hand through his hair. "Hawke, we've discussed this. I am not ready to-"

"I didn't mean it like that. Honest." When Fenris didn't respond, she continued, "We can sleep back-to-back. _Just sleep_. I'll even leave my soaking wet breeches on, if it helps. _Ooorrrr_ , I suppose I could just stumble my way into every other tent until I find Merrill's."

At that, Fenris sighed. Anders was traveling with them. If Hawke came into his tent looking like that, there was no way the abomination wouldn't try and take advantage of her. Besides, she needed rest. She retired immediately after finishing their meager dinner, which was completely out-of-character for her. She normally stayed up until sunset and read for a few hours, or wrote to Carver. But they had been walking through the mountains for days now, and the travel was finally wearing her down.

And it wasn't as though sleeping next to Hawke was something he'd never fantasized about. But the reality was that he was unused to another body so close. He doubted he would be able to sleep at all. But in the end, all that mattered was that Hawke got rest, and he would see to it, no matter the price.

"All right. You've won. Back-to-back." He bent down to fetch an extra blanket from his pack, and handed it to Hawke. "But remove your clothes, and wrap yourself in this. Isabela would have me killed if you'd returned with a chest cold."

Hawke gratefully took the blanket from him. She draped it over her shoulders, and peeled out of her breeches and smallclothes. Afterwards, she wrapped it tight around her, the cold finally beginning to set in. Fenris adjusted the bedroll to accommodate the two of them, and slid in without another word. Hawke swallowed hard before following him into the folds.

Fenris coughed when Hawke's leg slipped out of the blanket and slid across his own, and gasped when her cold back, felt even through the blanket, touched his. He wished he could set her in front of a fire. Or better yet, find the courage to bring her close to his chest and offer up his own warmth. But instead, he curled up into himself and steadied his breathing. He had more self-control than that abomination.  

But the longer he lay awake, the more aware he became of Hawke's shivering. Finally, his resolve crumbled. He rolled to face her, and wrapped his arms tight around her, pulling her flush against him. She shivered more violently for a few moments, her body thankful for the contact. Fenris tucked his knees up to the backs of her own, and whispered,

"Sleep well, Hawke."

Before long, the two of them drifted off to sleep, and it wasn't until Anders' whining and Varric's laughter broke the still silence of the dawn that they realized that it wasn't merely some trick of the Fade that put them in the same bed. With some awkward shuffling, and not a small number of apologies, they got dressed and ready to face the day - and the companions who would surely be talking about this for weeks.

 

* * *

 

 


End file.
